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LANGLEY -- A close associate of the notorious Bacon brothers was critically wounded in a crowded Langley mall parking lot when "multiple shooters" opened fire Friday afternoon.

RCMP said the victim is "known to them" and linked to a gang, but would not confirm his identity.

But the Vancouver Sun has learned it is Kevin LeClair, 26, of Surrey.

Sgt. Peter Thiessen said investigators are dealing with a "significant incident."

"This shooting involves multiple shooters - we are not in a position to say how many right now - and we have multiple suspects," Thiessen said. "The suspects fled the scene on foot. They did occupy a suspect vehicle that was occupied by other suspects."

At least one of the many rounds fired in front of a busy IGA hit the windshield of a shopper's car, Thiessen said.

The mall shooting is the second in a week, almost identical to the murder Tuesday of Raphael Baldini outside Surrey's Guildford Mall. And it comes two days after another public warning against being around Jonathan, Jarrod and Jamie Bacon because of death threats from rival gangs.

Jamie dodged bullets two weeks ago outside an Abbotsford mall when a shooter opened fire from an SUV.

The frightening public violence caps a week where there have been six murders in Metro Vancouver.

But RCMP Asst. Commissioner Peter German said the public should not be alarmed, though cautious.

"I am very concerned obviously by what has happened. It was a serious shooting. We have had a number of them in the last couple of days," German said. "I am also concerned where this took place. It took place in public. It took place in a shopping mall....there is obviously a danger to the public."

But he said police are pulling out all the stops to catch those responsible, working with all the regional specialized units.

People who heard the shooting said they thought automatic weapons were used.

RCMP Const. Holly Marks said the shooting was shocking, given how busy the area is with a mall containing restaurants, the IGA and other businesses.

Nicole Watt was washing tables at Taco del Mar when she heard what she thought were firecrackers. Then, "I saw a guy running from a van. He ran across with a gun and he just started shooting," said Watt, who has lived all her life in Langley.

A man in a dark truck was shot with at least two guns, Watt said.

The shooter she saw carried a handgun, while a second man carrying a machine gun was obscured by a pillar. She said she didn't get a good look at either man.

She raced to call 911 before it was over. A doctor from a neighbouring clinic ran to aid the victim, a tall, muscular man covered with tattoos.

"They [the shooters] tore out of the parking lot, said Watt. "It is very disturbing. It was right there," she said, pointing outside.

"People saw both guns dropped in the parking lot."

Watt said she understood the victim was chased into the crowded parking lot by assailants. Some accounts said he was cornered by as many as three vehicles.

"They stopped, they parked, they ran across the parking lot and they shot him. The parking lot was full. It was 10 after four. People were running out of all the businesses to see what happened."

The young mother was shocked and shaken.

"It's a very nice family-oriented area of town. It is not where you would connect with something like this."

Police brought in a transit bus to take witnesses away to be interviewed as investigators scoured the wet parking lot for shell casings and bullets.

Many shoppers and mall workers were unable to get their cars out from behind the yellow police tape.

NDP MLA Mike Farnworth said the violence was unprecedented.

"This is completely out of control," Farnworth, his party's critic for the solicitor-general's ministry, which is in charge of policing, said after about the latest shooting.

A grey pickup truck with a broken driver's-side window sat double-parked in front of the supermarket, cordoned off by police.

Natalie Jones, who works at Extreme Pita, said there was a heavy police presence in the mall by the time she started her late-afternoon shift.

"The place was surrounded. There's helicopters flying above," said Jones. "Apparently the [victim] was in pretty serious condition, but he was gone by the time I got here.

"People here are pretty freaked out."

Lisa Swift, who works at the Booster Juice store in the mall, said gangland shootings are becoming almost commonplace.

"They happen all the time, right? As long as you don't get caught in the crossfire.

"They've happened a few times in the last few days. It's just the way it is, isn't it?"

The victim was taken to the mall's Colossus Cinema and airlifted to hospital.

Metro Vancouver has been plagued by a rash of gang-related shootings this year. There have been 10 homicides so far in 2009 and many other near-misses.

Police have been so concerned that they have put out three public warnings related to threats against the lives of the Bacon brothers of Abbotsford.

The Bacons and Baldini have been linked to the Red Scorpion gang.

Twenty-one year old Brianna Kinnear was shot to death at the side of a Port Coquitlam road less than two hours after Baldini was killed.

On Monday, James Erickson was gunned down in his apartment building on 105A in Langley.

kbolan@vancouversun.com

read The Real Scoop at vancouversun.com

-with a file by Doug Ward

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